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On each occasion the Jewish people have been dispersed they have established in every place of their dispersal Rabbinical Courts (Betei Din).ï¿½ The aim of operation of Betei Din has varied from time to time and place to place. Unexceptionally, the Beth Din of each community deals with questions of conversion and divorce. In matters of disputes between Jewish citizens of a country, historically, Betei Din have exercised jurisdiction where the parties have been prepared to submit their dispute to their jurisdiction. In various countries the secular authorities have invested or permitted the exercise of far greater jurisdiction and powers.

There is however a general proposition of Jewish Law which is critical to the exercise of jurisdiction by a Beth Din. That principle is "the law of the country is the law" (dina demalchusa dina).ï¿½ As may be expected, the content and application of that principle is much debated in Jewish literature. It is however of course, accepted, that Jewish law will not permit the sanction of actions which are contrary to the law of the State.

It is, nonetheless, appropriate in terms of Jewish law that when Jewish persons have a dispute that, where possible, be determined by a Beth Din.

The law applied by a Beth Din will vary. A Beth Din will discourage the strict application of law and apply principles which may ameliorate its strict application in the manner which is not all that remote from the interplay of law and equity. Moreover in contractual disputes the Beth Din will readily infer that the parties intended their contractual rights to be governed by the law of the State in which they contract.

To ensure that there is compliance with the law of the State, the Jewish Arbitration and Mediation Service has adopted a policy whereby on any tribunal there will normally be three persons, at least one of whom will be a qualified legal practitioner. In this regard the Service has available to it a large number of legal practitioners including senior solicitors, senior counsel and other members of the Bar. The mediators on the panel of the Service are all qualified mediators. Some have particular qualifications in Family Law.

The Service is administered by a Registrar who is well qualified for that purpose.ï¿½ The Registrar is the person responsible for appointing mediators and arbitrators to mediate or arbitrate particular disputes as well as giving appropriate directions for the conduct of any such process.

Although it is anticipated that the Service will be of particular interest to members of the Jewish community, the facilities of the Service are open to all persons.

The High Court has recently reviewed the charges for the hire of rooms to legal practitioners attending in Canberra for High Court hearings. The court has decided to include in the daily room hire charge the charges associated with photocopying and telephone usage, which to date have been charged separately.

With effect from 1 July 2009 practitioners will no longer be charged separately for their photocopying and telephone usage. The charge for the practitioners' rooms will incease to $350 per day (inc. GST) and will include reasonable access to the photocopiers and telephones.

The Children (Criminal Proceedings) Amendment (Youth Conduct Orders) Act 2008 and the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Amendment (Youth Conduct Orders) Regulation 2009 are to commence tomorrow, 1 July 2009. The Act inserts a new Part into the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 to provide for an additional diversionary option (youth conduct orders, or YCOs) for young people who have committed, or are alleged to have committed, an anti-social offence. Learn more>

If you have not yet received your practising certificate you cannot practise on and from tomorrow 1 July 2009. 'Practise' includes doing chamber work. If you have not submitted your renewal documentation to the association and have not secured bound professional indemnity insurance as of close of business today, you will not be able to practise on and from 1 July 2009. Learn more >

Comcare announced that the overall workers' compensation premiums for Commonwealth Government agencies has dropped to a seven-year low to 1.25 per cent for 2009-10. Comcare said the drop represents an overall reduction in claims frequency through the prevention of workplace injuries. Learn more>

A ceremonial sitting for the swearing-in of Stewart Austin as a judge of the Family Court will be held onï¿½ Monday, 13 July 2009 at 9.30am in the Supreme Court of NSW Building, Church Street Newcastle. President Anna Katzmann SC will speak on behalf of the bar. The chief justice of the Family Court has advised that barristers will be required to robe for the ceremony.

The Federal Court of Australia Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) have been added to the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.ï¿½ The object of the Regulations, as provided by the explanatory statement, is to amend the Federal Court of Australia Regulations 2004 setting the reduced court fee structure for applications under the new Fair Work Act 2009 _framework. Similar amendments have been made to the [_Federal Magistrates Regulations 2000]3.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has announced the tabling in parliament of the Hague Convention on Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters 1965. The Treaties Committee is seeking submissions on the implications for Australia of acceding to the convention. Submissions are requested by Friday 24 July 2009. For more information visit the committee's web site or e-mail jsct@aph.gov.au or phone (02) 6277 4002.

The Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court in Sydney will be holding its next joint liaison meeting with the profession on Wednesday, 5 August 2009 at 5.00pm at the Sydney Family Law Courts Registry, 99 Goulburn Street, Sydney. The meeting will discuss court issues, including the upcoming Special September Sittings, exchange ideas, and receive feedback from lawyers practising in family law.ï¿½ Watts J (case management judge) and Sexton FM (case management federal magistrate) will be in attendance.

His Honour Acting Judge Barnett has been reappointed as an acting judge of the District Court of New South Wales and as a judge of the Drug Court of New South Wales for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010.

His Honour Acting Judge Boulton has been reappointed as an acting judge of the District Court of New South Wales for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 13 November 2009.

His Honour Acting Judge McGrowdie has been reappointed as an acting judge of the District Court of New South Wales for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 31 July 2009.

Acting magistrates

The following acting magistrates have been reappointed for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010:

Mr Thomas Geoffrey Cleary has been reappointed as an acting magistrate and as a part-time member of the Victims Compensation Tribunal for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 2 January 2010.

Mr Brian Anthony Lulham has been reappointed as a part-time member and as chairperson of the Victims Compensation Tribunal for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010.

Mr Charles Augustine Gilmore has been reappointed as a part-time member of the Victims Compensation Tribunal for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010.

Messrs Michael Antony Dowd and George Ashley Miller have been reappointed as industrial magistrates for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010.

Magistrate Elizabeth Catherine Corbett has been appointed as an acting magistrate for the period commencing on 11 July 2009 and expiring on 30 June 2010, following her retirement as a magistrate with last day of service being 10 July 2009.

Crown prosecutors

Attorney General John Hatzistergos has approved of the secondment of Ms Laura Kathleen Wells, deputy senior crown prosecutor, as an acting public defender and Mr Ron Hoenig, public defender, as an acting crown prosecutor for the period commencing on 1 July 2009 and expiring on 18 December 2009.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has announced the appointment of Mr Stewart Austin as a judge of the Family Court of Australia. Mr Austin, who was admitted as a barrister in 1997, will take up his appointment to the bench in July 2009. Learn more >

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released a report on the state of the legal services industry for 2007-2008. According to ABS 8667.0, at the end of June 2008 there were 3,869 barristers operating businesses in Australia, generating income of $1.4b during the 2007-08 financial year, and incurred incurred expenses of $388.1m for the same period. Barristers derived the majority of their fee income from commercial law, which accounted for 27.3 per cent of total fee income (or $377.7m), and whilst crime doesn't pay as much (11.8 per cent of fee income, or $162.6m), it seems to do better than environmental law or wills and probate (each less than five per cent of fee income).

Thirteen different consumer protection laws will become one under a Bill introduced into the Australian Parliament today. The Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill 2009will introduce a single national consumer law and start the process of replacing consumer laws in place across Australia and the consumer protection provisions of the _Commonwealth Trade Practices Act 1974. _View the explanatory memorandum >

Both houses of New South Wales Parliament have passed the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Amendment Bill 2009(NSW) just hours after it was introduced. The object of the bill, as provided by the explanatory notes, is to "confirm current arrangements for the care, control and management of inmates in connection with the designation of inmates for the management of security and other risks and the separation of inmates from other inmates in a correctional centre". The Bar Association saw it as retrospective legislation designed to forestall a case that is yet to be heard by a court. The association briefed the cross-benchers in the Upper House, and Greens MLC Sylvia Hale read part of that advice into the Hansard. She said:

"Parliament should not be enacting new provisions that do not make their intent and operation plain and that are unable to be read meaningfully with the remainder of the Act. I received late today the following comment from the Bar Association:

_The New South Wales Bar Association opposes amendments aimed to legislatively determine the outcome of current Supreme Court proceedings involving the lawfulness of detention of certain prisoners in the High Risk Management Unit of the Goulburn Correctional Facility. The fact that the Government is seeking to enact retrospective legislation whilst the litigation in question is still pending is of deep concern.

Regardless of the parties involved and the crimes they have been convicted of, the Association considers that this retrospective approach to overturn litigation currently on foot is unacceptable, particularly as the Association understands that the Government intends to pass the bill through both Houses of Parliament this week.

The separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary becomes blurred when the State in its Executive capacity is a litigant to proceedings and in the face of an adverse outcome seeks to achieve success in that litigation not by an in independent determination by the judicial arm of the Government but instead by enacting retrospective legislation to achieve the same effect. The Government through its legislative role gets to "move the goal posts" whilst the litigation is still pending. It thereby utilises a power unavailable to the other party in the proceedings to gain an advantage for itself.

The retrospective application of legislation to current proceedings is a major step and should be subjected to detailed consideration by the Parliament. Given that the relevant proceedings are next listed for hearing in September, the Association is strongly of the view that the legislation be subject to proper consultation, consideration and scrutiny before any decision is made that it be passed._

Nominations for the 4th New South Wales Women Lawyers Achievement Awards are still open. Download a nomination form. The closing date is 31 July 2009.

The awards, which celebrate the success and achievements of women in law, are supported by the Attorney-Generalâs Department of NSW, the New South Wales Bar Association, the Law Society of New South Wales, the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.

Attorney General John Hatzistergos has approved a new scale of allowances to witnesses attending criminal trials at the Supreme Court and the District Court, as well as the Local Court, the Llicensing Court and the Coronerâs Court. The new rates are to take effect from 1 July 2009.

Have you lodged your practising certificate renewal application but not yet arranged your professional indemnity insurance? As of today, the Bar Association has only received notification from insurers of less than 1500 barristers who have bound PII. If you have not yet arranged your insurance, please contact one of the four approved insurance providers immediately. Learn more>